Though his popularity has fluctuated through the years, many of Pop's songs have become well-known, including "Lust for Life", "The Passenger", "Real Wild Child", "Candy" (a duet with Kate Pierson of The B-52's), "China Girl", "Nightclubbing", "Search and Destroy" and "I Wanna Be Your Dog".
In 2010, The Stooges were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Pop was the lead singer of The Stooges, a late 1960s/early 1970s band that featured brothers Ron and Scott Asheton and Dave Alexander and was highly influential in the development of hard rock. The debut album was produced by the Velvet Underground's John Cale. The band's "I Wanna Be Your Dog" is a garage punk standard.
Raw Power was first released in1973, perhaps the first record that could truly be called punk. It was the confluence of The Stooges ages, hormones, creativity, ability, experience, tastes, lack of supervision, contempt for authority and ambition that has made Raw Power one of the most influential albums of all time.
The Stooges were infamous for performances in which Pop leapt off the stage (hence, the "stage dive"), smeared raw meat or peanut butter over his chest and cut himself with broken bottles. A glimpse of the vibrating intensity of Iggy live can be seen in the Ramones movie "End of the Century." Guitarist James Williamson became a key collaborator, a partnership documented on the 1978 album Kill City.
In 25 years as a solo artist, Pop's best-known songs have included the thumping Lust for Life, to be heard on the soundtrack of the find-a-vein, shoot-it-up movie Trainspotting, I'm Bored and The Passenger (the latter based on a poem written by Jim Morrison). David Bowie played a key role in reinvigorating Pop's post-Stooges career and was a collaborator on the albums Lust for Life and The Idiot. Iggy may be under-rated as a songwriter. Bowie and Tina Turner covered his "Tonight". Bowie also put out his own version of "China Girl," while Grace Jones covered the icey "Nightclubbing".
Wild America
Iggy Pop Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I met a Mexicana
With a butchy girlfriend
Who I thought was a man
They took me to the alley
To have a little chat
People lined the corners
Doin' this and that
Wild America
Wild America
Wild America
Now I 'm in a black car
With my Mexicana
She's got methedrine but
I want marijuana
I don 't want to drive home
Not in my condition
So I ask my friend Matt
To handle the ignition
In wild America
In wild America
Wild America
Wild America
Exterminate the brutes
Exterminate the brutes
Exterminate the brutes
Exterminate the brutes
Oh right
Yeah
Yeah
Yeah
But I mean I like it here
Do you have anything you'd like to say to America?
I'd just like to say at this point that
I' m 24 hour, 7 day a week, 365 day a year American)
I was glad that Debbie
Had a sense of humor
This time of the morning
I tend to get gloomy
She laughed and said Iggy
You have got a biggy
I had no reply
So I just closed my eyes
In wild America
Wild America
Wild America
Wild America
Exterminate the brutes
Exterminate the brutes
Exterminate the brutes
Exterminate the brutes
They're goin' wild
Goin' wild
They're goin' wild
They're goin' wild
They're goin' wild
They're goin' wild baby
They're goin' wild baby
They got all kinds of fuckin' stuff
They got everything you could imagine
They're so god dammed spoiled
They're poisoned inside
They judge a man by what he's got
And they wanta have more and more
More power, more freedom
Taller kids, longer lives
Everything, bigger houses, slaves, whoa
The lyrics of Wild America are a commentary on the excesses and hedonism of American culture, particularly in Los Angeles, where Iggy Pop, the song's lyricist, lived for a time. The song narrates Iggy's wild night out with a Mexicana and her butch girlfriend. Iggy's encounters with the various people he meets in the alleyway serve as a microcosm of the larger American culture. There are constant distractions, people doing "this and that," while others line the corners. Iggy's cravings for marijuana and drugs are juxtaposed against the partygoing lifestyles of the people he meets. The excessive wealth and wants of the people on the streets are reflected in the repeated refrain of "Exterminate the brutes."
The lyrics also touch on Iggy's sense of displacement as he struggles to adjust to American culture. Iggy describes himself as a 24/7 American, but it is unclear whether he feels this way out of genuine pride or because he is trying to fit in. Towards the end of the song, Iggy laments the poisonous qualities of the culture, where people judge a man by what he has, and they hunt for more and more, regardless of the cost. The song emphasizes Iggy's sense of being trapped in this world of excess, with no clear sense of escape.
Line by Line Meaning
One night out in L.A
The singer describes a particular occasion when he was out in Los Angeles
I met a Mexicana
He came across a Mexican woman
With a butchy girlfriend
The woman was accompanied by her manly girlfriend
Who I thought was a man
Initially, he mistook the girlfriend for a man
They took me to the alley
The ladies led him to an alley
To have a little chat
They intended to have a conversation with him
People lined the corners
There were several people lining the corners of the alley
Doin' this and that
The people were busy doing various things
In wild America
All of this was happening in untamed, unrestricted America
Now I 'm in a black car
Now the singer finds himself in a black car
With my Mexicana
He is with his Mexican companion
She's got methedrine but
Although she has methamphetamine,
I want marijuana
the singer prefers marijuana
I don 't want to drive home
He doesn't want to drive back home
Not in my condition
Since he is not in a good condition
So I ask my friend Matt
He requests his friend Matt to do the driving
To handle the ignition
Matt is asked to start the car
In wild America
Just as before, all this is happening in liberated, wild America
Exterminate the brutes
The line is repeated several times, calling for the elimination of the uncivilized masses
Oh right
This is just an interjection, much like an affirmation
But I mean I like it here
Despite everything, the singer enjoys living in America
Do you have anything you'd like to say to America?
This is a question addressed to any American listener tuned in at that moment
I'd just like to say at this point that I' m 24-hour, 7-day a week, 365-day a year American
The singer expresses his deep love and pride in being an American
I was glad that Debbie had a sense of humor
He expresses his happiness that Debbie, probably someone he met at the start of the song, has a good sense of humor
This time of the morning I tend to get gloomy
The singer confides that he gets a bit sad at this particular time in the morning
She laughed and said Iggy, you have got a biggie
Debbie apparently helped cheer him up and joked with him that he had a big issue
I had no reply
Iggy didn't react or respond to Debbie's comment
So I just closed my eyes
In response to that, the singer says he just shut his eyes
They're goin' wild
The pace picks up again and the singer repeats the line 'they're going wild' several times
Goin' wild
The wildness continues
They got all kinds of fuckin' stuff
The people are doing all sorts of things that are out of control and indulging in crazy stuff
They got everything you could imagine
The people have everything imaginable at their disposal
They're so god damned spoiled
The people have become overly pampered and entitled
They're poisoned inside
The people have been negatively affected by their overindulgent lifestyle
They judge a man by what he's got
One's social status is based upon what they have
And they wanta have more and more
The people are insatiable and seek more and more material possessions
More power, more freedom, taller kids, longer lives
The lyrics become erratic and start listing all the things that people want
Everything: bigger houses, slaves, whoa
The list continues with some offensive items like more significant premises and slaves
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Peermusic Publishing
Written by: ERIC N SCHERMERHORN, IGGY POP
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
R Robinson
on Livin' On The Edge Of The Night (edit)
Here are corrections to incorrect lyrics - outrageously, stupidly incorrect: The first line is, "ILL WIND off the river". (And that's ill, not I'll.) The second line is, "smoke stacks fade to BLACK". Second verse: "I've made my bed but I can't REST my head". And "so much COULD be misunderstood". Bridge: "WELL maybe it's just my life". An artist crafts his work meticulously , then this is what happens to it. Disgusting.